March has fulfilled its promise of Madness, leaving few survivors

10:35 PM, March 24, 2013
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Ohio State Buckeyes guard Aaron Craft (4) gets knocked to the floor by Iowa State Cyclones guard Bubu Palo (1) during the third round of the 2013 NCAA tournament at University of Dayton Arena. Ohio State defeats Iowa State 78-75. / Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

by Mike Lopresti, USA TODAY Sports

by Mike Lopresti, USA TODAY Sports

This particular March has started to fulfill its promise, with its bracket busters and defrocked favorites and broken-hearted near-miss underdogs and narrow escapes. Indiana's Tom Crean spoke for 16 survivors Sunday when he named his main emotion after sliding by Temple: ``Relief.''

So now we await the Sweet 16 and the rivalry everyone was anticipating â?? Florida vs. Florida Gulf Coast. Where this tournament has been and where it is going can tell us several things.

We have a new Cinderella icon for future underdogs. The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles not only charmed history by becoming the first No. 15 seed to barge into the Sweet 16, but since this is their first invitation, they can say for another week they are the only school in the world with an all-time unbeaten record in the NCAA Tournament.

The Big Ten was every bit the boot camp it claimed to be, toughening its troops for what was to come. There are league teams left standing in every region, and Sunday was an example of how hard those teams will be to kill off. Ohio State, aided by a bad charging call, won in the last second, Indiana in the last minute. Both could have easily lost on the same day in the same arena. But they didn't.

"If your guys have really understood how to win throughout their league, then the panic doesn't set in,'' Crean said. "When panic sets in, and you start looking at that clock, that's when you're going home."

More and more, Louisville looks like the team to beat, after two victories by 31 and 26 points. Trying to score against the Cardinals' pressure defense is like trying to find your way out of a burning building.

Gonzaga probably had it more pleasant when the Zags were upstarts and everyone was in their corner. Their quick exit had all their No. 1 seed critics hooting.

Not only is Gonzaga gone out west, but maybe also Ben Howland, deserted in the end by UCLA's players who barely showed up against Minnesota. Turns out the statute of limitations for three consecutive Final Four trips might be precisely five years.

We could give the Bruins the Embarrassment Trophy for the tournament, but that would be a slight to Georgetown, which has become every double-digit seed's dream date, having lost its last five tournaments to Nos. 15, 11, 11, 14 and 10. Also to the Notre Dame basketball team, which managed to look even worse in the first half against Iowa State than the football team did in the first quarter against Alabama.

The West region has turned into a demolition derby for high seeds. Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5 â?? all gone. It's No. 2 Ohio State's regional to lose, if you believe the seedings. But who would?

Paging Keith Smart. No Final Four remembrance is complete without his winning jumper in the 1987 national championship game for Indiana against Syracuse. Guess who plays Thursday in Washington, D.C.?

Oregon has done a fine job of telling the NCAA selection committee what it could do with that No. 12 seed. But dead ahead is Louisville. It has made lots of teams lately look like No. 12 seeds.

Who had a more anxious first week than Marquette coach Buzz Williams? He won games by one and two points, and ushered his wife to a Lexington hospital for a 3 a.m. emergency appendectomy.

Nobody can go down the same miracle-finish road forever and not get bloodied. Not even Butler.

Sunday night, Temple's Khalif Wyatt put into words what this tournament is all about, especially the underdogs.

"That's what you want as a basketball player," he said, after his 31 points nearly knocked off Indiana. "You get a big stage like this, and the whole world's watching. Just enjoy it with your teammates out there, and you get a chance to go out there and shut everybody up.